


Hunted

by Koschei_Oakdown



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:32:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koschei_Oakdown/pseuds/Koschei_Oakdown
Summary: They totally win





	Hunted

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to DC Comics

The Green Lantern team was back, landing in the citadel and immediately drawing Sinestro's attention. He'd been itching with impatience, sitting cross-legged on the ground as he waited for news and he leapt to his feet now, ready to begin interrogation. If he had to stay here, as the Guardians had ordered, he would know as much as he could.

For the past few days, the Corps had been under attack from an enemy known only as 'the bounty hunter', named thus because he was paid for every Green Lantern he killed. And he'd killed a lot. In fact, the information about him had only been gained from the deaths of more Green Lanterns and they still didn't know who he was, where he was, or how to stop him. The Guardians had instructed the Corps into hiding, most were stranded on Oa, like Sinestro, awaiting the teams of Green Lanterns sent out to put an end to this. 

"Tomar-Re!" he called, striding over, his eyes searching the group for someone else even as he addressed the Xudarian. His words, his presence, were enough to stop the group in their tracks, to bring attention to himself, but still, no Hal Jordan was to be found. But Sinestro knew Hal had been with this group, so where was he? His goal, though initially it had been to know what was going on, changed as his concern for his student grew.

"Sinestro," Tomar-Re greeted, nodding his beaked head. He seemed unconcerned, wasn't panicking, was in no rush, so perhaps Hal wasn't in immediate danger. Or Tomar-Re didn't understand the gravity of the situation. If Hal wasn't here, on Oa, then he was out there, left in mortal danger, like every other Green Lantern away from the Guardians' protection. Thaal was well aware of this, and narrowed his eyes. After all the work he'd put in, all the time away from Korugar, for a human, he would not allow it all to be wasted. And if Tomar-Re had gone and endangered it by leaving Hal, who was still barely more than a rookie, to fend for himself...  
  
"Where is he?" Sinestro asked, keeping his voice calm and even while he began calculating his options. The Guardians had ordered that no Green Lantern leave Oa until the situation was taken care of but was such an instruction worth bypassing to retrieve Hal? Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary. "Tomar-Re -"  
  
"Sinestro, I'm sorry," the other Green Lantern sighed, interrupting. "We were separated and lost contact almost instantly. I tried finding him, I really did, but I couldn't afford to lose any more Lanterns. They're exhausted and -" Tomar-Re hesitated but Sinestro could read between the lines. None of the other Lanterns had wanted to risk their lives for Hal, for the human they'd never wanted in the Corps in the first place.  
  
"We'll go back out with fresh Lanterns as soon as the Guardians allow it." the Xudarian finished, reaching out to Sinestro, as though to offer a comforting touch to the shoulder or something similar. Sinestro stepped back, avoiding the touch. "Don't worry, he'll be fine," Tomar-Re said instead, though they had to both be aware of the obvious and dismal odds Hal had stacked against him. Even with the human's habit for beating such odds, he would be hard pressed to make it out of this alive.  
  
"Fine?" Sinestro asked, upper lip curling in distaste at such useless optimism. "Fine is here on Oa, where the bounty hunter cannot touch him. Fine is to have Lanterns backing him up, not fleeing in terror like new recruits. Do not tell me not to worry, Tomar-Re, when it is you who has put him in this situation in the first place." Sinestro jabbed his index finger into Tomar-Re's chest, making it very clear he was not happy with the other man's incompetence. If it had been him leading this team, he would never have allowed a Lantern to stray, he would never have allowed disobedience. The bounty hunter would be at his feet already.  
  
Turning away, Sinestro considered for a moment, brow furrowed in thought, and then he took flight. "Where are you going?" Tomar-Re called after him but Sinestro ignored this, uninterested in anything the Green Lantern had to say. He pulled up Hal's last known location as he headed away from Oa and set his path flight to that, zoning out as his ring did all the work. Not once did it occur to him that Hal could already be dead. The human had a track record of narrowly avoiding being blown up on a daily basis. But he was well aware that Hal's luck couldn't last forever. Disobeying the Guardians' direct orders might be idiotic but this was worth it. Hal was worth it.  
  
Sinestro dropped to the ground on a backwater planet and glanced around. Rocky and barren, his surroundings weren't very inviting. This had to be where Tomar-Re had let Hal wander off without considering the fact that a murderous bounty hunter was carefully picking off any vulnerable Green Lanterns. Honestly, what had Tomar-Re been thinking? Hal got into trouble wherever he went, it was only natural he'd manage to get himself lost on such a barren planet.

This was Hal's last location, according to Tomar-Re, and the place where communication had been cut off. Was Hal still here? Had he left? 

There were several possible reasons why Hal wasn't responding to ring calls. Perhaps his ring wasn't functioning, drained of power or off his finger. Or perhaps Hal himself was the issue, he could be ignoring the attempts at contact, or he could be unresponsive, unconscious or dead. No, not dead, the ring would have chosen a new bearer if that was the case. Hal was still alive.  
  
If it was the ring that was the issue, Hal wouldn't have been able to leave the planet and would have found Tomar-Re. If he was incapacitated with a dead ring, Tomar-Re would have found him. The bounty hunter was paid by kill, not capture, he wouldn't have taken Hal which left one option. Hal didn't want to be found. Why this was, Thaal had no clue - but he did, he suddenly realised, and scowled, grinding his teeth together. "Damn you, Jordan," he muttered and turned around to face the man he knew would be standing behind him.  
  
Hal tilted his head and widened his eyes innocently. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Sin," he chastised casually in greeting. Sinestro crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed. "What are you doing here?" Hal was dead serious now, and Sinestro shifted back as his student stepped forward. But then he straightened his spine and lifted his chin, refusing to give any ground. He was in control here.  
  
"Searching for you," Sinestro answered smoothly and stepped around Hal to try to ease the tension in his muscles. Hopefully, it would also have the effect that he was dismissing the other man, even when all Hal's attention was focused on him. "Yet it does appear that you were never lost." He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, quick enough to catch the flicker of uncertainty that crossed Hal's features. That was enough to ease any last vestiges of frustration within him so he sighed and shook his head. "This is foolish, Jordan, surely you must see that. You cannot take on this enemy by yourself."  
  
Because that was what was going on here. Sinestro knew it. In the impulsive human way Hal always did things, he'd decided that using himself as bait was his best course of action. With the bounty hunter's already established pattern of going after vulnerable Green Lanterns, if Hal displayed himself as just that, he could draw out the enemy. The theory was sound, Sinestro knew, he probably would have come up with it himself, eventually, but far more experienced Lanterns than Hal had already fallen. The human stood no chance.  
  
"That's what you think," Hal spat, and Sinestro was surprised by the venom in his voice, the anger and bitterness in his posture. "That's what you always think, isn't it? That I'm not good enough. That I'll never be as great as Abin Sur. That I'm just a human and I'll never be anything more. That's why you're here, right? You don't think I can look after myself!" By this point, Hal was up in Thaal's face, his teeth bared in anger, his breathing fast, chest heaving. Sinestro stared at him but didn't move, brain working fast as he searched for the source of all this emotion. Then he had it. Of course, Tomar-Re hadn't told him everything. Of course there was a reason why Hal had separated from the team. The human wasn't a complete fool, he would have posed his plan to Tomar-Re before enacting it. And the Xudarian had turned it down. Why wouldn't he? His job had been to defeat the bounty hunter with numbers, not with crazy impulsive plans.  
  
"Jordan, Tomar-Re is a fool with more faith in observing and teamwork than actually accomplishing anything," Sinestro said coolly and Hal blinked, clearly startled. "He would never have agreed to doing this even if you hadn't been the one to suggest it." Hal blinked again and slowly but surely, his anger began to fade away. He looked slightly ashamed and ducked his head, flushing. The bright colour stood out on his pale cheeks, so unnatural, even after all this time. Without thinking, Sinestro brushed his finger over the contrasting colours, and the heat warmed his own skin, as it always did.  
  
Hal's eyes fluttered closed, the green mask fitted perfectly to his eyelids, and Thaal hastily withdrew his hand. He went to step back too, but that wasn't an option for Hal threw his arms around him and hugged him tightly, far too tightly. Standing stiff and awkward, Sinestro waited for it to be over. "Sorry for projecting," Hal muttered, somehow hugging Sinestro tighter still, as though trying to crush each and every one of his ribs. "Tomar just - it's not his fault. And I'm going to catch this psycho anyway so it doesn't matter. But I am sorry, Thaal."  
  
So he wouldn't have to reply, Sinestro pretended to be more interested in trying to breath through the suffocating grip Hal had on him. Finally, Hal let go of him and Sinestro sucked in a deep breath. He gingerly felt his ribs but nothing seemed to be broken, to his astonishment. "You should have called me, Jordan," Sinestro advised, acting as though he hadn't just been very uncomfortable as he returned his attention to the matter at hand. "Our enemy is no thug. He has already killed a number of Green Lanterns and dying to prove a point is no point at all."  
  
Hal rubbed at his nose and looked around him. "You're you, Sin, you don't look 'undefended' or 'vulnerable'. I assumed no one would attack with you around. And they haven't, have they?" Dejected, he sighed. "Maybe this whole idea was stupid."  
  
"Hardly," Sinestro dismissed, waving an airy hand. "Simply the part where you decided to do this alone." He met Hal's eyes, his message clear. The human hesitated, and frowned. Sinestro sighed and resisted the urge to show his exasperation. "You're not alone, Hal," he elaborated, and his attention was suddenly drawn to a flicker of movement over the human's shoulder, out of place in the darkness. On a planet like this, with no life, any movement had to be treated with suspicion and he had a pretty good idea who was watching them. Readying for attack too, no doubt. He was careful not to let his awareness of the fact show, however, the element of surprise was always useful, and, relieved that he didn't have to continue this conversation, he stepped forward, bringing himself back into close proximity of Hal. His fingers caught the human's jaw and he leaned down, pressing his lips to Hal's ear to say, his voice a murmur no one but they could hear, "Nor are we. Don't react, but I think our enemy has found us."


End file.
